Browsing by Author "Klinkner, Sabine"

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Open Access
Analysis of collision avoidance manoeuvres using aerodynamic drag for the Flying Laptop satellite
(2023) Turco, Fabrizio; Traub, Constantin; Gaißer, Steffen; Burgdorf, Jonas; Klinkner, Sabine; Fasoulas, Stefanos
Collision avoidance is a topic of growing importance for any satellite orbiting Earth. Especially those satellites without thrusting capabilities face the problem of not being able to perform impulsive collision avoidance manoeuvres. For satellites in low Earth orbits, though, perturbing accelerations due to aerodynamic drag may be used to influence their trajectories, thus offering a possibility to avoid collisions without consuming propellant. Here, this manoeuvring option is investigated for the satellite Flying Laptop of the University of Stuttgart, which orbits the Earth at approximately 600km. In a first step, the satellite is aerodynamically analysed making use of the tool ADBSat. By employing an analytic equation from the literature, in-track separation distances can then be derived following a variation of the ballistic coefficient through a change in attitude. A further examination of the achievable separation distances proves the feasibility of aerodynamic collision avoidance manoeuvres for the Flying Laptop for moderate and high solar and geomagnetic activity. The predicted separation distances are further compared to flight data, where the principle effect of the manoeuvre on the satellite trajectory becomes visible. The results suggest an applicability of collision avoidance manoeuvres for all satellites in comparable and especially in lower orbits than the Flying Laptop , which are able to vary their ballistic coefficient.
Open Access
Simulating asteroid impacts and meteor events by high-power lasers : from the laboratory to spaceborne missions
(2023) Ferus, Martin; Knížek, Antonín; Cassone, Giuseppe; Rimmer, Paul B.; Changela, Hitesh; Chatzitheodoridis, Elias; Uwarova, Inna; Žabka, Ján; Kabáth, Petr; Saija, Franz; Saeidfirozeh, Homa; Lenža, Libor; Krůs, Miroslav; Petera, Lukáš; Nejdl, Lukáš; Kubelík, Petr; Křivková, Anna; Černý, David; Divoký, Martin; Pisařík, Michael; Kohout, Tomáš; Palamakumbure, Lakshika; Drtinová, Barbora; Hlouchová, Klára; Schmidt, Nikola; Martins, Zita; Yáñez, Jorge; Civiš, Svatopoluk; Pořízka, Pavel; Mocek, Tomáš; Petri, Jona; Klinkner, Sabine
Meteor plasmas and impact events are complex, dynamic natural phenomena. Simulating these processes in the laboratory is, however, a challenge. The technique of laser induced dielectric breakdown was first used for this purpose almost 50 years ago. Since then, laser-based experiments have helped to simulate high energy processes in the Tunguska and Chicxulub impact events, heavy bombardment on the early Earth, prebiotic chemical evolution, space weathering of celestial bodies and meteor plasma. This review summarizes the current level of knowledge and outlines possible paths of future development.
Open Access
Smart ground support equipment : the design and demonstration of robotic ground support equipment for small spacecraft integration and verification
(2024) Kottmeier, Sebastian; Wittje, Philipp; Klinkner, Sabine; Essmann, Olaf; Suhr, Birgit; Kirchler, Jan-Luca; Ho, Tra-Mi
In order to reduce the costs of integration and verification processes and to optimize the assembly, integration and verification (AIV) flow in the prototype development of small- and medium-sized spacecrafts, an industrial six-axis robot was used as a universal mechanical ground support equipment instead of a tailored prototype specific ground support equipment (GSE). In particular, a robotic platform offers the possibility of embedding verification steps such as mass property determination into the integration process while offering a wider range of ergonomic adaption due to the enhanced number of degrees of freedom compared to a classical static Mechanical GSE (MGSE). This reduces development costs for projects and enhances the flexibility and ergonomics of primarily mechanical AIV operations. In this paper, the robotic MGSE system is described, the operational prospects for in-line verification are elaborated and an example is given showing the possibilities and challenges of its operational use as well as its in-line mass determination capabilities. For this purpose, a method has been developed that allows for the precise measurement of the spacecraft mass using the robot’s existing technology without the need for additional hardware. Subsequent work will extend this to determine the center of gravity and the moments of inertia of the payload on the robotic MGSE.